Robbery suspect fled to DA's house

A man New Orleans police believe committed an armed robbery -- and afterward fled to the home of District Attorney Eddie Jordan -- is also a suspect in the home invasion and shooting of a police officer and his wife a day later, several police sources confirmed Wednesday.

The bizarre confluence of events began the evening of Oct. 11, according to those sources and police documents obtained by The Times-Picayune.

The 20-year-old man stopped by Jordan's house minutes after he allegedly fled after an armed robbery outside a nearby Shell gas station. He arrived at Jordan's house on foot, having run away after the robbery victim rammed his sport utility vehicle into the car carrying the suspect, police documents said.

Investigators later also connected the suspect, Elton Phillips, to an eastern New Orleans robbery and shooting by two gunmen, who critically wounded a police officer and shot the officer's wife in the foot after breaking into their home late at night.

On Wednesday, Jordan said he didn't know Phillips, and didn't know Phillips had allegedly committed armed robbery shortly before arriving at his home. The district attorney said his longtime girlfriend Cherylynn Robinson knows Phillips, and she in fact had spent Oct. 11 -- her birthday -- with him and his relatives in Baton Rouge. He said Robinson is not related to Phillips.

After Jordan saw a news report naming Phillips as a robbery suspect, he said, he immediately called New Orleans Police Superintendent Warren Riley.

"I called Warren Riley and said I wanted to speak to the police," Jordan said. "I called him immediately after I discovered he had been wanted for an armed robbery," he said, referring to Phillips.

Busy week for DA

But investigators had difficulty interviewing Jordan, according to documents. Those reports indicate investigators repeatedly called Jordan's cell phone over the course of three days, but he failed to answer and his voice mail was full. At one point, investigators went to Jordan's home and rang the doorbell for 10 minutes, but no one came to the door.

An investigator finally confirmed Jordan had gotten the interview request by sending it through an intermediary, Ralph Brandt, head of Jordan's trials division, according to a police document. The investigator had told Brandt that Jordan's lack of cooperation could result in bad publicity, the document said.

The officers "didn't express concern about any substantial delay," Jordan said. "The question was, 'How do we find this guy?'¤"

Jordan said he could not be reached simply because it was a busy week, not because he sought to avoid investigators.

"I don't know if you've been reading the papers lately, but I got some things going on," he said. "I got one or two things going on. I'm getting it from all sides."

Jordan, who is black, has taken heavy criticism this week after a federal judge ruled that the assets of his office could be seized to pay off a $3.7 million judgment against his office for racial discrimination in the firing of white employees.

According to police documents, the investigation into the armed robbery led to a tip that Phillips was at Jordan's home on Lennox Boulevard in Algiers, where Jordan lives with Robinson. Police conducted surveillance of the block, but learned shortly later that the suspect, Phillips, had left.

Officer seriously injured

On Oct. 13, about 30 hours after the armed robbery near Jordan's home, two gunmen surprised veteran police Detective Thelonious Dukes, 47, as he worked in his garage on his motorcycle at his home in the 100 block of Kristen Court, off Bullard Avenue. Police sources said Wednesday that Phillips is a suspect in the robbery and shooting that ensued.

The two men marched Dukes at gunpoint into the house, woke up his wife and made both kneel in the bathroom, one police source said. The men demanded money, jewelry and guns, police sources said.

Dukes pulled his gun after one of the men threatened his wife. A gunfight followed, with Dukes getting off at least two shots. Police don't know whether the robbers were shot, sources said. Dukes' wife was shot in the foot. Dukes was shot in the lower torso and leg.

Investigators believe Phillips took part in that incident and then fled the New Orleans area, sources said, though they could not say whether he fired the gun that wounded Dukes and his wife.

Dukes remained in critical condition Wednesday at University Hospital.

Jordan: Didn't know of crime

According to police documents detailing the West Bank armed robbery investigation, that incident occurred after Phillips and his cousin, John Edwards, spent the day in Baton Rouge with Jordan's girlfriend. Robinson knows both young men and is close friends with their relatives, Jordan said.

After returning to New Orleans from Baton Rouge, the young men dropped Robinson off at the home she shares with Jordan. The men continued to a gas station in the 4600 block of General de Gaulle Drive, according to police records.

About 8 p.m., Phillips allegedly approached a 34-year-old man who was putting air into a tire on his Hummer H2.

The man told investigators that Phillips approached him from behind, placed a small revolver on the side of his neck and demanded money. The victim gave Phillips a cell phone, $800 and a white metal chain hanging from his neck.

Phillips got into the passenger side of a black Dodge Avenger parked nearby and left, police documents state.

The robbed man chased the vehicle in his SUV. At a red light, the man rammed his Hummer into the back of the Dodge, according to the report. The driver of the Dodge stayed with the vehicle while Phillips ran away, the documents say.

On Wednesday afternoon, Jordan said he was in his bedroom the evening of Oct. 11 when he heard a commotion. He came out of his room and saw a man he didn't recognize sitting in the stairwell talking with his girlfriend.

"He said someone rear-ended him," Jordan said. "He said that he thought that this person ran into him deliberately. I asked whether he was injured or hurt. He looked like he was a bit hysterical."

Jordan said Phillips and his girlfriend went into the backyard, where Phillips used a cell phone for a few minutes and then left. Jordan said he went back to his room.

Suspect on the loose

New Orleans police issued an arrest warrant for Phillips, who lives in the 1700 block of Tennessee Street, a day after the armed robbery. He remains at large. Police interviewed Edwards about the robbery but he was not arrested.

Jordan said he had "no reason to believe" that Phillips had committed a crime when he appeared at his house.

"He's a kid. He really looked innocuous. He said that he had been in a car accident," Jordan said.

Jordan said he could not remember when he talked to police about Phillips. "I don't know when I talked to investigators. I don't know the date," he said.

Jordan reiterated that he had talked to Riley.

"So actually, I had given a statement to Riley over the phone," he said.

Riley confirmed through a spokesman that Jordan called him about his encounter with Phillips, but declined further comment.

Jordan said he was distressed when he learned the man who had been inside his house had a gun.

"I was concerned he had disarmed in the area," Jordan said, adding that he searched for the gun on his block and in a nearby park. He came up empty.

Staff writer Gwen Filosa contributed to this report.

Brendan McCarthy can be reached at bmccarthy@timespicayune.com or (504) 826-3301.